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Set piece has been a massive focus in our preparations, says Du Preez
THE Australian captain of Canberra has seldom been a happy hunting ground for the Sharks in Super Rugby over the years, but in tomorrow’s quarter-final against the Brumbies the visitors have every reason to be believe they can pull off a rare win in the icy city.
This Brumbies may be winners of the Australian conference this year, but they do not command the same respect as the great Brumbies teams of the George Gregan and Stephen Larkham era. That said they have won six matches in a row and, perhaps uncharacteristically for an Australian side, they have a monster pack that plays to its strengths by throwing everything into the set pieces.
Last week, against the Reds, the Brumbies forwards toyed with the Queenslanders in the scrums and lineouts. The Sharks know that if they can nullify the Brumbies pack, they have the backline to do the rest. It is not often that a South African backline potentially has an advantage over their Antipodean counterparts.
“The set piece has been a massive focus in our preparations,” coach Robert du Preez said from Sydney. “Most of their tries have originated from lineouts ... That is their strength, so we have worked very hard on countering that. But by the same token our set piece has gone well this season, and that is encouraging ahead of what is going to be a huge battle up front. Ascendancy there is going to be crucial.”
The manner in which the Sharks finished against the Stormers last week will have given them a major boost for the quarter-final, especially those critical last three minutes in which they played near perfect rugby.
“This is a team that when things go to plan can beat any team anywhere in the world,” Du Preez said. “We showed amazing patience to score that try. It is moments like that show the spirit of the team.” Du Preez has brought back fit-again Curwin Bosch at fullback in place of the injured Aphelele Faasi for tomorrow.
Fassi has been ruled out of the match with a rotator cuff sprain on his right shoulder. Bosch, who has recovered from the ankle injury he suffered against the Jaguares, makes a welcome return in his place. The rest of the starting line-up remains unchanged. On the bench, Juan Schoeman returns as loosehead-prop cover.
Sharks – 15 Curwin Bosch, 14 Sbu Nkosi, 13 Lukhanyo Am, 12 Andre Esterhuizen, 11 Makazole Mapimpi, 10 Rob du Preez, 9 Louis Schreuder (c), 8 Dan du Preez, 7 Tyler Paul, 6 Jacques Vermeulen, 5 Hyron Andrews, 4 Ruben van Heerden, 3 Coenie Oosthuizen, 2 Kerron van Vuuren, 1 Mzamo Majola.
Subs: 16 Cullen Collopy, 17 Juan Schoeman, 18 Thomas du Toit, 19 Gideon Koegelenberg, 20 Luke Stringer, 21 Cameron Wright, 22 Jeremy Ward, 23 Rhyno Smith.
Brumbies – 15 Tom Banks, 14 Henry Speight, 13 Tevita Kuridrani, 12 Irae Simone, 11 Toni Pulu, 10 Christian Leali’ifano, 9 Joe Powell, 8 Pete Samu, 7 Tom Cusack, 6 Rob Valetini, 5 Sam Carter, 4 Rory Arnold, 3 Allan Alaalatoa, 2 Folau Fainga’a, 1 Scott Sio.
Subs: 16 Connal McInerney, 17 James Slipper, 18 Leslie Leuluaialii-Makin, 19 Darcy Swain, 20 Lachlan McCaffrey, 21 Jahrome Brown, 22 Matt Lucas, 23 Tom Wright.